DREEM: A New Dynamic High-resolution Demand-side Management Model for Quantifying Benefits of Demand-flexibility in the Building Sector

Abstract

Existing climate targets suggest energy transitions that fundamentally re-envisage the electricity system. To this end, increasing shares of renewable energy sources (RES) and reducing total demand are of paramount importance. However, one of the main challenges of a transition based on a high RES penetration is integrating these variable energy sources without jeopardizing the security and the reliability of the electricity system. Key solutions forward include the introduction of demand-side management (DSM) and flexibility functions, to absorb increased shares of dispatchable RES. However, so far DSM modeling at the building sector has been proven challenging, as the distributed and fluctuating nature of the consumption behavior can lead to misleading modeling assumptions. Addressing that, this paper presents a new Dynamic high-Resolution dEmand-sidE Management (DREEM) model. The novelty of the model lies mainly in its modularity, as its integrated structure allows for the model components’ output variables to be appropriately correlated.